The Sessions (The Sessions)

Production and year: USA 2012 Genre: drama, comedy Director: Ben Lewin Screenplay: Ben Lewin Cast: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt Medical themes: complications from polio, the sex lives of people with disabilities Description: He graduated with a degree in English. Though, as he himself says, if his parents had sent him to a facility caring for children who had contracted polio, he wouldn’t have lived to see his 10th birthday. His parents devoted their entire lives to this cause.  The film’s Mark (Hawkes) is not paralyzed, but due to muscle atrophy, he can only move his head. He spends most of his day in an “iron lung.” His life changes when he receives a call from a journalist at the Pacific News Series, who comes up with the idea for a series of articles titled “Sex and Disability,” based on interviews with residents of the neighborhood where Mark happens to live. So he begins conducting these interviews. He eventually calls the Center for Sexuality and Disability. There, Mark gets the number of a therapist who used to work at the center and had experience with these kinds of issues. She refers Mark to... a "sex surrogate" (Hunt). The titular sessions begin, which are the heart of the film. You can imagine the rest. But can you really? Maybe "Sessions" will surprise you. In my opinion, the film is definitely worth watching. However... It’s really hard to believe that the character Helen Hunt plays this time has... such an artificial face, altered by numerous plastic surgeries. In my opinion, this took away some of the unique atmosphere of “Sessions,” but the film is still definitely worth recommending.